No. 8 Duke Defeats Villanova, Elon on Sunday; Finishes 5-0 in Duke Invitational

Sunday, February 25

Durham, N.C.

1 p.m.

Duke University

12-1

Villanova

4-9

Villanova

Duke

No. 8 Duke Defeats Villanova, Elon on Sunday; Finishes 5-0 in Duke Invitational

2/25/2024 10:04:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

DURHAM – No. 8 Duke softball (13-1) swept Villanova (4-9) and Elon (3-10), 11-5 and 14-0, respectively, to close out action in the Duke Invitational on Sunday. The Blue Devils finished 5-0 on the weekend and outscored their opponents 59-7.

Sophomore D'Auna Jennings led the way at the plate, batting 7-for-8 on the day with a double, triple and three RBI. The Houston, Texas, native also tallied two runs and a stolen base.

Four of Duke's five pitchers saw action during the two contests with graduate transfer Dani Drogemuller and senior Lillie Walker earning the wins. Sophomore Cassidy Curd picked up a save against Villanova after entering in the top of the fifth to shut the door on the Wildcats.

HOW IT HAPPENED VS. VILLANOVA

The Wildcats were quick to push the first run across the plate in the opening frame.
Duke immediately responded with four runs in the bottom of the first, including a two-run shot from junior Ana Gold, to take the lead, 4-1.
A two-run home run from Villanova's Tess Cites cut the gap to 4-3 in the top of the second inning.
The Blue Devils added a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth but the Wildcats stayed close by with two runs of their own in the top of the fifth.
Duke pushed ahead again with five unanswered runs, highlighted by back-to-back solo blasts from senior Claire Davidson and sophomore Aminah Vega, before the game was halted in the bottom of the sixth inning.

NOTES VS. VILLANOVA

The game was called in the bottom of the sixth inning due to travel restrictions for Villanova.
Curd struck out four in her 1.2 innings of work and earned the second save of her Blue Devil career.
Sophomore Sophie Garner-MacKinnon registered her seventh career start, tossing 1.2 innings and striking out three.

HOW IT HAPPENED VS. ELON

Duke was quick to jumpstart its offense in the nightcap, scoring seven runs off five hits in the bottom of the first inning.
The Blue Devils continued the momentum in the second with five additional runs to stretch a 12-0 lead.
Redshirt sophomore Jada Baker drove in the final two runs in the bottom of the third with a single up the middle to score graduate student Gisele Tapia and senior Francesca Frelick, after both reached on infield singles.
Drogemuller sat the Phoenix down in order in the top of the fifth to complete the 14-0 run-rule victory.

NOTES VS. ELON

Drogemuller worked all 5.0 innings, allowing four hits and one walk while collecting a season-high six strikeouts.
With the win, she improves to 3-0 on the year.
Duke recorded its eighth shutout victory in fourteen games this season.

UP NEXT
The Blue Devils open conference play next weekend as they host Syracuse for a three-game series Mar. 1-3 at Duke Softball Stadium. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. on Friday.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils softball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeSOFTBALL"

Duke Centennial
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Team Stats

Pitching:

W: Walker, Lillie (3-0)

L: WHITE, Kelsey (1-2)

S: Curd, Cassidy (1)

Villanova

Batting:

2B: JONES, Ally 1

HR: CITES, Tess 1 ; FRANZ, Ava 1

RBI: CITES, Tess 2 ; FRANZ, Ava 1 ; JONES, Ally 1 ; GRAY, Elizabeth 1

Base Running:

RUNS: CITES, Tess 2 ; FRANZ, Ava 1 ; RAPHAEL, Alexa 1 ; WHITE, Kelsey 1

Duke

Batting:

2B: Jennings, D'Auna 1 ; Torres, Kelly 1

HR: Gold, Ana 1 ; Davidson, Claire 1 ; Vega, Aminah 1

RBI: Jennings, D'Auna 1 ; Gold, Ana 2 ; Davidson, Claire 1 ; Vega, Aminah 1 ; Tapia, Gisele 1 ; Burgess, Amiah 2

Base Running:

RUNS: Jennings, D'Auna 1 ; Gold, Ana 1 ; Davidson, Claire 2 ; Vega, Aminah 3 ; Torres, Kelly 1 ; Terrell, Aleyah 1 ; Burgess, Amiah 1 ; Frelick, Francesca 1